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Summary: Starbird provides in-depth scriptural understanding
Review: After reading the unsigned smear by the "reader from California", I just had to write! This work contains carefully researched and documented information regarding the ancient practice of gematria found in Greek phrases of the New Testament Scriptures. The system of sacred numbers used by the authors of the Gospels is more than 2500 years old and is readily acknowledged by the best Scripture scholars. The practice of gematria is current still among scholars of the Hebrew Bible, and is totally UNRELATED to the "numbers" cited in the book "The Bible Codes". The numbers of gematria reveal the pre-eminence of Mary Magdalene in the early Christian community--a matter of history, not wishful thinking! Starbird provides quality work.
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Summary: You won't find the Goddess here.
Review: Can we find a Goddess in the Gospels by reading Margaret Starbird's book? That is an interesting question but one scarcely answered. She starts off by stating in the preface that her story is going to be "stranger than fiction." We are not disappointed as she tells us about her tortured search for the lost bride of Jesus. At one time a Roman Catholic, Margaret tells us about her journey into discovering the lost truth, that Jesus was secretly married to Mary Magdalene. (If Christ is a God, than Mary must be a Goddess) If Christ was not a God, than Mary Magdalene could not be a Goddess. Herein lies one of many deep problems with the book. For Margaret Starbird Jesus is not God. Jesus did not want to be worshiped, nor was he lord, master and creator of the universe in Starbird's eyes. If not, than how could we call Christ's wife, Mary Magdalene a Goddess? What evidence compelled Starbird to abandon her faith and accept a purely human Christ, who was married to the Magdalene? What does a statue of Christ with a broken left hand, the use of the Bible as a kind of magical book where you flip it open and put your finger down on what ever verse you find, have to do with evidence? What does rumor, legend, and round rocks have to do with evidence? How about the sinking of the Titanic, and the volcanic eruptions of Mt. St. Helens on certain days? And what about the space shuttle Challenger, blowing up on a certain day? And, what about it being the right booster rocket that failed? That should convince anyone and send their faith in a tail spin. What about personal direct revelations, inspirations, hauntings, nagging intuitions, promptings, signs, dates and geographical names have to do with evidence? How about the book "Holy Blood, Holy Grail," as compelling evidence? They are all overwhelming evidence by this "kitchen-sink contemplative," as Starbird calls herself, that the evil patriarchy of the Christian Church covered up the fact Christ was only a man and was married. And what if you ran into some people from France in a Irish pub in Nashville. A sure sign. And what if your leaking plumbing fixtures were made by a company which had "Church," in its name? Add Tarot cards, astrology some Atlantis myth, Gnosticism, Gematria, a bit of Jungian psychology and you have the mountain of irrefutable, circumstantial, evidence that forced Starbird to abandon the faith of her youth. Amazing! As I was about half way through the book, I wrote in the margin, "This poor woman has a thought disorder." I must be a prophet because sure enough later, she records her own nervous and mental breakdown. Are we surprised? Her own father thought she had gone off the deep end as did her husband. You are not going to find the Goddess of the Gospels in this book I am afraid.
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Summary: Mary Magdalene a "goddess"?
Review: Complete New Age tripe. She "decodes" the words and letters of the Gospels to "support" her thesis, i.e. Bible Code; a practice discredited by all responsible scholars.
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Summary: "Forgive us faithful......"
Review: Goddess of the Gospels gives the church the best opportunity to confess to their faithful since the release of the Dead Sea scrolls and is a must read for all who love Jesus and his teachings. A mind expanding spiritual journey supporting growing evidence that Jesus and his family were denied justice after he challenged priestly power of his day. Persecution and crucifiction grewn to a conspiracy which continued for 2000 years behind the habits of church politicians and the robes and power of their fellow brethren as they schemed and defaced the true life of the annointed Christ and his wife Mary Magdalene We are told our present Pope was born on the day of a lunar eclipse when the symbolic female passed before the male to activate the feme of this wonderful Pontiff. This feme is the holy grail, the chalice of Mary Magdalene the female within male, balance, love and logic. Margaret Starbird demonstrates her spirit, Catholic faith, her courage and conviction, with genuine feminine intuition and womans wisdom. Margaret deserves the accolades offered in tribute of this wonderful work. Let this knowledge be known and shared, such expressions of love will positively influence the future to the womb of creation.
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Summary: Begging the Question
Review: I follow the subject well here....in fact, I share Ms. Starbird's observations and beliefs. However, the book "begs the question", often repeating itself and pounding away at certain points. The author is sincere, but needs an editor that is just as sincere. Wish I had read her earlier work before launching into this one.
Rating:
Summary: Begging the Question
Review: I follow the subject well here....in fact, I share Ms. Starbird's observations and beliefs. However, the book "begs the question", often repeating itself and pounding away at certain points. The author is sincere, but needs an editor that is just as sincere. Wish I had read her earlier work before launching into this one.
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Summary: Mary "the Magdalene" was the "Goddess" in the Gospels
Review: In "The Goddess in the Gospels" I have used the story of my own faith journey as a vessel for a publication of the sacred numbers that prove irrevocable that Mary Magdalene was understood to be the "Goddess" in the Christian mythology. The authors of the New Testament set their phrases to number by "gematria," a system of symbolic numbers widely practiced among both Greek and Hebrew scholars in the Hellenistic period. These numbers are still encoded in the Greek phrases of the Gospels. This book relates the story of my own gradual conversion from a very orthodox Roman Catholic to one who now believes that the "Sacred Marriage," embodied in Christ and Mary Magdalene, was once at the heart of Christianity. The "sacred numbers" in the Gospels themselves convinced me beyond doubt that this was the faith of the early Church. This book reclaims the Bride of Jesus and restores her to the Christianity, providing a celestial model of true partnership at the threshold of the new millennium--MM!
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Summary: GODDE IS....
Review: In THE GODDESS IN THE GOSPELS, Margaret Starbird shares the story behind the story of `The Woman with the Alabaster Jar'. In many ways, the personal spiritual journey Starbird experienced and shares with the reader in GODDESS is a more compelling tale than the one she eventually wrote about the Magdalene. GODDESS has much in common with `The Dance of the Dissident Daughter' by Sue Monk Kidd. (Kidd acknowledges Starbird's influence in her book). GODDESS also nicely complements HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL. Like many women born into religious orthodoxy, Starbird struggled for years to live by the rules of conduct the church prescribed for women. Because she is a person of great depth, intelligence, grace, and spiritual awareness, her attempt to live within the narrow, confined and misogynist tradition of her church led her to the edge of madness. After a very scary brush with insanity, she accepted the Grail-the path of enlightenment. Starbird concludes that women have long been treated shamefully by orthodox Christianity - especially the Roman Catholic Church. She suggests the RCC abandoned the true message of Jesus when it distorted the memory of the Magdalene as it institutionalized in the 4th century. In recent years, the RCC has made a small effort to ameliorate its decidedly misogynist practices, but these efforts are inadequate and come too late for millions of women. Starbird suggests that if the RCC does not make drastic changes soon it is doomed. It simply will not do for the church to treat women as anything less than co-equal with men. Just as the Magdalene was co-equal with Jesus, all women are co-equal with all men. Furthermore, the church needs to change its attitude toward birth control, divorce, married priests, and women priests, etc. In short, its time for the church to undergo a Reformation.
Rating:
Summary: GODDE IS....
Review: In THE GODDESS IN THE GOSPELS, Margaret Starbird shares the story behind the story of 'The Woman with the Alabaster Jar'. In many ways, the personal spiritual journey Starbird experienced and shares with the reader in GODDESS is a more compelling tale than the one she eventually wrote about the Magdalene. GODDESS has much in common with 'The Dance of the Dissident Daughter' by Sue Monk Kidd. (Kidd acknowledges Starbird's influence in her book). GODDESS also nicely complements HOLY BLOOD HOLY GRAIL. Like many women born into religious orthodoxy, Starbird struggled for years to live by the rules of conduct the church prescribed for women. Because she is a person of great depth, intelligence, grace, and spiritual awareness, her attempt to live within the narrow, confined and misogynist tradition of her church led her to the edge of madness. After a very scary brush with insanity, she accepted the Grail-the path of enlightenment. Starbird concludes that women have long been treated shamefully by orthodox Christianity - especially the Roman Catholic Church. She suggests the RCC abandoned the true message of Jesus when it distorted the memory of the Magdalene as it institutionalized in the 4th century. In recent years, the RCC has made a small effort to ameliorate its decidedly misogynist practices, but these efforts are inadequate and come too late for millions of women. Starbird suggests that if the RCC does not make drastic changes soon it is doomed. It simply will not do for the church to treat women as anything less than co-equal with men. Just as the Magdalene was co-equal with Jesus, all women are co-equal with all men. Furthermore, the church needs to change its attitude toward birth control, divorce, married priests, and women priests, etc. In short, its time for the church to undergo a Reformation.
Rating:
Summary: This work is essential reading.
Review: Margaret Starbird is a preeminent Theologian and scholar of the New Testament and related literature and a leader of American and international culture. Her interest is spiritual rather than selfish and we benefit warmly from her insistence, from Scripture, that the Inseparable Other, the Feminine Principle, is an aspect of Divinity's play with humanity and the world. This Theologian has set a standard for discourse of all natures during the Third Christian Millennium. We owe her "Thanks" and "Well Done."
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